Bidspirit auction | Fascinating Letter of Protest from

Fascinating Letter of Protest from the Early Days of the State about the Secularization of Child Survivors of the Holocaust - Jerusalem, 1947 - ”Secularization of hundreds of children, orpans of Kedosheinu” - historical letter of protest by the Chief Rabbis of Erezt Yisrael - about the attempt to change the religion of child survivors of the Holocaust - Jerusalem, 1947.  Background: ”As is well known, the Mapai party controlled all immigration routes to the Land of Israel and the distribution of certificates. With deliberate intent and directives from above, 'instructors' worked to secularize Jewish children through every possible means, particularly orphans destined for Aliyah. These actions were carried out both through propaganda and physical violations, such as the cutting of sidelocks. These incidents occurred in various waves, the most famous being the 'Tehran Children' affair and the immigration of Moroccan Jews.  This is a letter of outcry and protest by the Chief Rabbis against the actions of the Jewish Agency and the Mapai party, regarding the coercion of Holocaust orphans to abandon religious observance and enter Kibbutzim across the country: ”The recent reports regarding the acts of forced secularization (Ha'avara al Hadat) of hundreds of children, the orphans of our Kedosheinu, including children of G-d-fearing parents, by emissaries acting on behalf of the Agency in Europe... It is impossible to further tolerate this disgraceful situation, where the non-religious permit themselves to treat children who have fallen into their hands as their own merchandise, and to forcibly secularize even children of religious origin...”. A silent testimony to the events of those days, the period of the state's founding, which seem to have been forgotten by some; yet the surviving documents tell the painful truth... The document is hand-signed by the Chief Rabbis:  ~ The famed Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevi Herzog, the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi and author of Shut Heichal Yitzchak.  ~ The Gaon Rabbi Ben Zion Meir Chai Uziel, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi and author of Shut Mishpatei Uziel.  Official ststionery of the Chief Rabbinate of Eretz Yisrael.  21X31 cm.  Filing perforations and fold lines. Good condition.